This invention relates to an improved method of brewing beer from barley or malted barley and rice by using low gel point rice.
In the brewing of beer by using barley or malted barley and rice, one mixes a main mash of malted barley and water, syphons a part of that mash into a rice cooker where the enzymatic action of the malt works to partially break down the starches in the rice while heating takes place in the presence of water, then pumps the partially converted rice slurry into the main mash tank where the mashing is completed. The insolubles of the mash are then permitted to settle to the bottom of the tank and the remaining solution or wort is strained through the insolubles, which are then sparged or washed and carried to the brew kettle, where sterilization by boiling and addition of hops takes place. The boiled wort is then cooled and aerated in preparation for primary fermentation.
In the past, it has been necessary to maintain sufficiently high levels of water in the main mash and the rice cooker that the materials have workable viscosities. Otherwise, problems develop such as drive motors to the rice cooker and masher agitation units continually stalling, as well as pumps throughout the system being overloaded.
The cumulative effect of these problems is a limited brewing capacity. That is, the gravity or percent solids of the wort cannot be increased appreciably over, for example, 15% in a given system, without encountering difficulty. This solids concentration is alternatively measured in what are called degrees of Balling. For our purposes, a degree of Balling will be used to mean a percent solids in the wort.
The brewing of beer with a rice adjunct is, for the above reasons, as well as for reasons of raw material cost, a more expensive process than brewing with other adjuncts such as corn.